


Levels

by Areo_ian, AveChameleon, AvieAwesome, blackswans22, FridayNightWrites, Green_Riot, Here2ReadVB, LadiSaiyan, rogue_1102, Ruthlesscupcake



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dreams and Nightmares, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hell, Multi-Levels, Video & Computer Games, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29962665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areo_ian/pseuds/Areo_ian, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AveChameleon/pseuds/AveChameleon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvieAwesome/pseuds/AvieAwesome, https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackswans22/pseuds/blackswans22, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridayNightWrites/pseuds/FridayNightWrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Riot/pseuds/Green_Riot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Here2ReadVB/pseuds/Here2ReadVB, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadiSaiyan/pseuds/LadiSaiyan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rogue_1102/pseuds/rogue_1102, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruthlesscupcake/pseuds/Ruthlesscupcake
Summary: On the First Friday of every month, writers descend to take turns creating a story using a shared prompt. For your consideration:Vegeta and Bulma playing a co-op video game and Bulma keeps dicking around and Vegeta just wants to get past the first level goddammit.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Levels

**Author's Note:**

> TY to Here2ReadVB for the beta!

Shades drawn: check. 

Case of Mt. Dew and two boxes of pizza: check. 

Both of them getting the time off work to hang out for something other than sex?: check.

Only problem was the damned woman insisted on something besides Netflix. She wanted in on a video game. Not knowing how to play… well anything… posed a huge problem. He hated to lose.

“Damnit, woman, friendly fire is on!” He spat, trying to take out the automated forces coming at them in droves, their weapons drawn and firing rapidly. He had hunkered down behind a large slab of concrete debris, waiting for someone to find him unexpectedly. Bulma on the other hand ran around haphazardly, her gun aimed to the sky and screaming. In real life. 

“I can’t stop! I can’t see anything!”

“Look down. There. Yes, now aim. There’s one coming your way. Just shoot!”

“But I don't remember how to change guns!” She moaned, the crinkle at her brow focused while being in a state of horrible frustration. 

_We should do something together, Vegeta. Play a game, Vegeta._

Her idea was board games. Something that was quiet and took hours where she could ask little questions about their relationship and where it was going and what to do on their next day off…

He had made the unfortunate suggestion of one of his favorite pastimes- killing adversaries in a battle royale-style video game. How was he supposed to know she was going to suck so badly?

“Okay, you know what Vegeta?” Bulma was becoming increasingly frustrated and was very close to throwing a controller. “I’ve never done one of these stupid games before! You just threw me into mayhem and gunfire! Of course, I’m not going to be any good.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “Fine, woman. I’ll restart it, put it on explorer mode, and we can stroll around the map while absolutely nothing can damage us and there’s no sense of risk or danger? Is that better?”

“Yes! Finally!” Bulma huffed.

And very dramatically, Vegeta sighed. He dutifully restarted the game, setting it to a level that a 5-year old could excel in. “Alright. Train. Do whatever it is you need to do so you’re not shit at this game.”

“God, you’re such a dick.” Bulma tentatively moved the D-pad forward and crept forward a few inches. “Hey! I’m moving!”

“Truly, an incredible achievement.”

Bulma was so proud of herself his sarcasm went completely over her head. “Okay…” She pressed the triangle button on her controller and was pleased to see that she could bring her gun out. “And I have a WEAPON! Now I just have to use it!” The bluehead continued her innocent stroll through the building. “Alright, so this is a level?”

“Yes. It’s the introductory level.”

“Okay, lead the way! I can move now.”

“Well, goody for you,” Vegeta mumbled to himself. He began crossing the courtyard. A simple tutorial. Even Bulma can handle this.

“OH MY GOD VEGETA!”

“What? What?” Vegeta spun his perspective around wildly. “I don’t see anything. There shouldn’t be any enemies here.”

“No! Vegeta, there’s a cat!”

Vegeta stared at the small, grey, digital cat. “Yes. That is indeed a cat.”

“Can the cat get hurt? Do we need to rescue the cat?”

 _Sigh._ “No. It’s an introductory level. It’s a random, tiny animal that’s a little bit of flavor.” Vegeta doggedly continued on the path that was clearly marked. “Bulma? Bulma, where’d you go?” He glanced down at her half of the screen and realized she was decidedly not following him, or even anywhere close to him.

“Oh, I’m just following this kitty. He’s so cute! Sometimes he sits!”

“Dammit! Of course, he sometimes sits! It’s a cat! A cat!”

Bulma huffed. “Well, there’s no need to be rude. Following this adorable little kitty is a lot more fun than hiding behind slabs of concrete and watching you be a jerkface!”

Vegeta bit his tongue. “Bulma. For the love of all that’s good, please leave the cat alone and follow me.”

“Are you sure the kitty will be okay?”

“Yes. Because it’s not real.”

“Fine. Geez.” Bulma slowly pushed her D-pad button to follow Vegeta dejectedly through the courtyard and into a building.

Vegeta sighed quietly, trying not to let her hear. _Finally_. “Okay, why don’t we start by practicing aiming and firing.”

“Oh, right! I have a weapon!” Bulma gleefully raised the gun, pointing it in every direction.

“So, aim at me and fire.”

She looked at him skeptically. “Whatever you say. Not the first Saiyan I’ve shot.” Her avatar swung around to his, and a burst of gunfire broke out.

“Wait, what?”

“HA! I hit you!” Bulma ignored his shocked question. “You know, this is kind of cathartic.” She held down the firing button, hitting him with a constant stream of bullets.

“Very funny, woman. You can stop now.” His avatar was being pushed backward by the barrage. “Stop now. STOP!”

She finally pulled her finger off the firing button. “You’re no fun.”

 _Deep breath._ “Okay. Fine. Let’s try something a little trickier. Aiming while you’re standing is one thing. You’ll need to be able to aim while you’re moving. So let’s both move through the building, and you try to hit me.” He paused, glancing at her part of the screen. “Woman...what are you aiming that scope at?”

“Just admiring the view.”

“Dammit, that’s not even _my_ ass.” 

She smirked, smashing down the firing button again. “Better get moving, bad man.”

He shook his head in frustration. _Tsh._ Vegeta’s avatar climbed a few flights and waited for her at the top of the stairwell. Breezing through the tutorials, he realized he had never been on this floor. He scanned the floor and found the one hidden item he needed to get the legendary prize he’d been working on. Her humming snapped him back to the real reason why they were there.

“Where are you?”

“Oh, I was waiting down here for you to tell me when to come up? Then I found another kitty all in the corner alone. Do you think it can eat my rations?”

His controller dropped to the floor while his hands slid down his face in an effort not to strangle _her_. The single source of all his frustration, anguish… and the reason why his dark world recently became more colorful.

Picking up the controller he took a deep breath with renewed strength. “Come up.”

“Okay.” She navigated her way to the top of the stairs. Then let out a gasp of delight. “I have more weapons!” 

“You don’t need a new weapon.”

“But look, this one shoots purple things.” Vegeta watched as his avatar was shot over and over, engulfed in purple light. 

“Hey what’s this?” 

He glanced up at the screen just as Bulma threw a small green oblong shape at him. 

“Dammit Woman! That was a grenade.” He swore again as his screen went black and the Game Over message popped up. 

“I thought you said we couldn’t die on this level?”

“Clearly this game isn’t Bulma Briefs proof.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a breath. “Let’s try this one more time?” 

“Are you not having fun? Because to be honest, you seem a touch grumpy, I mean not that I would expect anything different, but grumpier than usual when it’s just the two of us.”

“No, I am not,” he rolled his eyes, “grumpy. This time just do as I say okay?”

“I’ve never been very good at following your directions.”

He snorted, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

The game restarted and Vegeta walked her back through the introductory level, and despite a moment lost looking for the damn cats, they made their way back to the top of the staircase. Now, if he could just keep her focused for a few minutes longer, he could search this level for the locked item that would complete his collection, then that prize would be his! 

He heard a familiar laser sound, “Woman! We agreed NOT to shoot!”

“But there is someone over there! Don’t you see them?”

“What? That’s not possible? You are hallucinating.”

“Open your eyes Saiyan, right above that gray cloud thing.”

Vegeta scanned the screen, and sure enough, there was a figure hidden in the background. Could you interact with it? He moved his avatar forward, the thirst to conquer the game making him forget about Bulma for a moment. 

The Saiyan focused his avatar on the figure, moving slowly closer to it. It didn’t move, and it also didn’t change in appearance. It was a dark, shrouded figure, human in appearance, but he couldn’t tell if it was alive, or just a statue. Being Vegeta, his curiosity won out, and he crept closer once more. As he neared it, he realized that Bulma hadn’t followed him. He threw a look over his shoulder. 

“Bulma?” He hissed. 

Before he could do another thing, there was a whirlwind of commotion in front of him. Suddenly the figure had launched itself into the air, up and over his head. The figure hit the ground running, toward a very clueless, completely ignorant to the moment Bulma. 

Her avatar was kneeling down, gun slung over its shoulder, mumbling quietly to a cat. Another cat. Vegeta swore angrily as he turned on his heel, shouldering his weapon. 

“BULMA! Behind you!” He yelled. 

The heiress’s avatar quickly turned, and as the real Bulma realized what was happening, she flung the controller across the room with an ear-piercing screech. 

Vegeta stopped and turned to her. “Are you serious right now? Woman, it is a game.” He quickly turned his attention back to the screen and leveled his weapon on the strange figure, which now had Bulma’s avatar held tightly against it. Even though it was a game, Vegeta felt a rise of anger that someone else was touching HIS woman. Yes, it was JUST a game, but how dare whatever it was, touch his woman. 

He unleashed a volley of laser beams to the right of the figure, in hopes of distracting it. But as he did so, the real-life Bulma chose that moment to dangle a piece of pizza in front of his face. 

He growled a deathly low growl. “Get. It. Out. Of. My. Face.” 

She giggled. “Oh ‘Geta, didn’t you say it’s just a game? Stop and have some pizza. Mr. Creepy figure will wait, I’m sure.” 

Vegeta leveled her with a stare that could freeze a river of lava. 

“Fine,” she huffed, crossing to where her controller had landed. “Starve to d-OUCH!”

She dropped the controller back onto the floor, and he rushed over to where she was wringing her hands together. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he demanded as he took her hand between his own to inspect it.

“I don’t know, the controller was just freezing.” 

She reached toward it tentatively. When she was confident it wouldn’t hurt her, she handed it to him. “Is this normal?”

He took it into his hand and was surprised to see that it was quite cold indeed. “Weird.”

He pressed the X button three times, the Y button twice, and pressed the D-pad around a few times, making sure that it wasn’t busted.

“It’s unusual, but it seems like it’s working. Maybe you just threw it in front of an air vent.”

They both ignored the fact that the nearest air vent was on the other side of the room.

When they were seated back in front of the television, the shadowy figure was still hovering over Bulma’s avatar.

“Who is this guy?” she asked, hands going numb from the icy controller.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.”

“So what do I do?” 

He shrugged. “Try moving away from him.”

She followed his instructions, but the figure followed her. She could barely move her fingers from the chill of the controller. Soon, the coldness began moving up through her hand and arms. As it reached her shoulders, she began to panic.

“Uh, Vegeta…”

“Hmm?”

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and nearly choked at what he saw. Her arms had turned translucent, and it was spreading.

“Put the controller down!”

“I can’t! I can’t feel my hands!” She was freaking out as the chill spread to the rest of her body, the edges of the room blurring and morphing. Vegeta was helpless as he watched her fade away into nothingness.

“Vegeta?”

He could hear her, but where was she?

“Vegeta?” Her voice was coming from the television speakers.  
  
He rose from his seat, looking around the room in a panic; however, it was empty save for him, the couch, and the half-eaten pizza.   
  
“Bulma!”   
  
With stuttering and halted footsteps he walked towards their television set and placed a trembling hand onto the screen. His heartbeat drummed frantically in his chest as he stared at the now-fuzzy screen in a mixture of horror and fascination.   
  
_What the hell?_ _  
_ _  
_ “Bulma?” he all but whispered at the display, frowning when there was no answer this time. 

This made no sense. She was just here, and now in some crazy Poltergeist-type-fashion, she’d been sucked into their TV.

This was crazy. No. That is not what happened.  
  
Wasn’t it?   
  
**BANG!** **  
****  
**The outline of a hand slammed against the screen on the other side. Thin, feminine fingers and a terrified face…  
  
“SHIT!”   
  
“Vegeta!, Wake up! It’s almost 2 am.“   
  
Huh? He looked around and everything was as it was...except now Bulma was in her pj's. He must have fallen asleep and then she decided to go to bed without him. He rubbed a hand down his tired face and forced himself to stand to stretch, hearing the bones pop in his spine. Bulma smiled at him, “Are you coming to bed or not?”

Vegeta grunted and followed her to their bedroom, quickly pulling off his shirt to change into his sleepwear.

“You were really into it tonight,” Bulma said as she laid on the bed, stretching on her side as she watched him change with a mischievous smile.

“Hmph,” he grunted again, not wanting to answer as he finished changing and moved to the bed to lie down to face her.

“Vegeta…. It’s time…” she smiled softly.

“Just… a little more,” he said as he reached out and touched her hip.

“You’re going to be tired in the morning, and I hate when you bark at me when you’re cranky,” she teased as she let her hand trail down his chest.

“I should take you to work with me,” Vegeta said as studied her face.

“You could… but I thought you didn’t want to be embarrassed by having a digital waifu, remember?” She smiled at him knowingly.

Vegeta flipped on to his back with a groan, “I wish you were real.”

“I am as real as you want me to be, Vegeta,” she snuggled closer and he could feel the heat of her body from the bodysuit he wore for his VR game.

“I could…”

“You could what?” She rested her head on his chest.

“I could love you.”

“Well, I am designed to be exactly what you want in a partner, so that makes perfect sense.”

“But, I also wonder how much of you I have built based on that cute girl on the 3rd floor of my office.”

“Probably a lot, I am custom-designed to please you, so it would make sense that you added traits you found pleasing in another human.”

He hated when she went “technical” on him. It was easier to pretend when she was playing _Bulma_ and not so clearly AI. He often wondered if he should get rid of her and take a chance with that cute blue-haired girl in his office. He’d been burned in the past, and he worked odd hours, plus he was set in his ways. On the practical side, a digital partner was logical. But, on the emotional side, there was something lacking. 

He closed his eyes and fell into a troubled sleep. 

“Vegeta, wake up. It is 6:00.”

He sighed and rolled over, ignoring Bulma’s voice.

“Vegeta, wake up. It is 6:00.”

“Damnit Woman, I know what time it is.”

“Geez. You REALLY need to stop eating those ghost peppers before bed. You tossed and turned all night and at one point, I think you called me a waifu? What is that?”

Vegeta rubbed his stomach, she was right about the damn peppers, along with giving him indigestion, they also gave him weird lucid dreams. He replayed the ones from last night: video games, Bulma sucked into the TV, Bulma as a digital waifu….He shook his head. Yeah, no more ghost peppers for a while. 

He stretched and climbed out of bed, pulling the curtains back, letting the morning sunshine into their bedroom. He had about 30 minutes to kill. He could try to play a game with her. Maybe the dream, well the first part of the dream, was onto something. She was always asking for him to share more of his interests with her. But 30 minutes wasn’t a lot of time to introduce her to a game and teach her how to play, even if she was a fast study for the most part. 

“Geets! Come eat breakfast!” 

“Coming Woman!” He rolled his eyes, maybe a digital partner wasn’t a bad idea. He left their bedroom and wrapped his arms around her, the smell of whatever concoction she had come up with this morning filling the air. 

Digital or not, now his days were more colorful than his colder ones. Her body fit comfortably into his. Her intellect surpassed his, even if her hand-eye coordination was lacking. 

“What are you gonna eat?” He grabbed and bit into seven pieces of bacon at once, eyeing the sample size of eggs, toast, sausage, and pancakes that were in front of him.

“Big day today. I’m good with just coffee.” She raised her glass with a strained smile and typed into the laptop in front of her.

 _Can reprogram in a second, talk and eat at once but can’t-_ His thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell.

He walked toward the door, almost as if an invisible force was guiding him. The bell rang once again, and he opened it after briefly growling at whoever had the audacity to ring more than once...only to find absolutely nothing outside the door. Nothing. A black void encompassed all that there was beyond the doorway, and he stood there staring for a moment, unsure of what in the hell was going on. 

Vegeta wasn’t entirely sure what happened next, but before he knew it, he was falling. Falling through the black, and Bulma’s voice suddenly cut into his consciousness. 

“Vegeta, you couldn’t save me. Why?” Her voice was laced with pain. Agony. 

Something inside him shattered, what he thought he felt for this woman was far beyond just a simple feeling of caring. His entire world was Bulma. She was his everything. 

As he fell (Was he really falling? He didn’t even know at this point), he flexed his fingers and hands. They felt like they were there, at least. But something was wrong. Very wrong. 

Her voice came flooding to his consciousness once again. “Vegeta...where are you? What are you doing?” 

The Saiyan closed his eyes and gritted his teeth angrily. He didn’t like feeling overwhelmed and confused like this, feeling so entirely helpless. 

Suddenly, he felt as if he’d crashed into a solid wall. His body trembled, and he was shaking. 

“Vegeta. Vegeta! Wake up!” He opened his eyes...again, this time to find Bulma wide-eyed above him, shaking his shoulders. 

When she realized he was awake, she squealed. “Oh my Kami, Vegeta, I thought you were dead!” 

He looked around and saw the boxes of pizza strewn on the floor and their controllers laying haphazardly next to them. 

“Bulma….what...what the hell?” 

“I don’t know, YOU TELL ME! You scared the shit out of me. We were playing the game and then you just collapsed...and I couldn’t wake you up!” Bulma cried, touching his arms as if trying to reassure herself that he was really there. 

His eyes darted around the room like a feral, caged animal, and he muttered under his breath.

As she listened more closely, she could make out one word being repeated over and over. “Simulation. Simulation. Simulation. Simulation.”

“Vegeta, what are you talking about?”

His wild eyes landed on her, and he jerked away from her.

“What are you?” he demanded breathlessly. “You’re not her.”

“It’s just me. Calm down.”

He paced across the room, eventually coming to a stop in front of the door that led to the outside world. The doorknob didn’t budge when he attempted to turn it.

“Who the hell are you, and where is Bulma?”

Eyes closed, he took deep breaths through his nose. He wasn’t going to let them fool him again.

“Oh. Well, that’s no fun.”

The walls melted, and he found himself seated at a round table in the middle of a black void. It all began coming back in bits and pieces. The tournament. Babidi. Buu. _Crap._

“So I’m in Hell then?”

“It’s really not so fun when you remember,” the voice, or voices, that surrounded him whispered. “Where should we go next? Should we take a trip to Vegetasei? Maybe you can meet her at a bookstore in the 1960s?”

He clenched his eyes closed, struggling to ground himself. How long had he been here? It seemed as if an eternity had already passed, and chances were that there was no magical resurrection awaiting him this time around. 

He felt the pull again and knew he was being transported, but he wouldn’t forget this time. He would remember his Bulma.  
  
“ _HRANNGGHHH_ !”   
  
Every atom and essence of his soul felt as if it were being torn asunder and scattered across the cosmos. Pain, indescribable and forever, flayed his psyche; however, he would not bend.   
  
No.   
  
He was Prince Vegeta. He did not cower and bend to the whims of anyone but himself. This netherworld...this hell, might break him but it could never subdue him. As he was plunged through multitudes of other existences and possibilities, one thing was ever-constant and omnipresent.   
  
The Woman.   
  
She was always there and he always lost her. Whether it was a **GAME OVER** end screen or a sudden blast of deathly ki from a Kakarot-skinned imposter, his Bulma was destined to leave his life, and this knowledge cut deep into his essence like a vorpal knife. An ever-bleeding wound that would never be staunched. His curse, his punishment, would be to live with that knowledge and experience it over and over again for time eternal.   
  
Despite these grim visions, he tried to hold on to the faint glimmers of hope throughout. The small moment where she put her hand on his. Smiled that teasing smile that would never fail to make his cheeks turn red.   
  
Oh, how he had taken those for granted. If only…   
  
A sudden vortex stopped his forward momentum and he found himself in front of a massive desk, with his judge sitting in front of him.

The towering man tried to look intimidating but before he spoke he suddenly morphed into Frieza. ”Hello little monkey. I would say I’m happy to see you but we all know I’m not one for false sentiments. Tell me, are you still playing house with that woman who seems to have softened you? All those years being trained and for what? To have someone so weak domesticate you. You were always such a disappointment. No wonder your father gave you to me.” 

With a flick of his wrist, handcuffs emerged and Vegeta found himself chained up and gagged. “The best kind of Saiyan is a dead one. And now that you’re here where you belong you’ll never escape. You’ll be bound to hell without your family!”

“No! No...no…”

“SHIT!”

Suddenly the darkness fled. Vegeta blinked his eyes against the blinding brightness. “What—?”

“Well, that didn’t go quite as we planned. Back to debugging, I guess.”

Was that...her? “Bulma?” He blinked, trying to get his eyes to work again. Her face swam into focus above him. In her hands she was holding a smooth object of some sort. Wait…

A helmet. His memory started to slowly leak back. The...the VR helmet. Right. She wanted to test—

He shot up from the chair. “What the hell just happened?”

Bulma was staring at her computer, tapping away. “The biofeedback jumped like crazy at the end there. I think we need to lower the subconscious input, boost the frontal cortex and suppress limbic function…” Her voice trailed off as she tapped on the keyboard.

“That was. What the hell was that?” He still wasn’t sure what was going on. He tried to remember...she had been programming a new VR game system Capsule was hoping to get out by Christmas. Something about using your own brain signals to design the perfect game—

“Yeah, sorry, Vegeta. I don’t know what happened, but man, your EEG was going pretty nutso at the end there.” Bulma chuckled.

She came over to where he sat, panting. “Thanks for being my guinea pig, honey. It was really helpful.” She gave him a peck on the cheek. He was too disoriented to be angry.

“Still...This is going to kill the Christmas sales.”


End file.
